Whoop Dee Doo

For a while I was fairly convinced that Whoopie Pies were going to be the next big thing and so I endeavoured to master them. Like cupcakes, but not quite to the same degree as effing cake pops, they are labour intensive and fiddly. The texture means that they are a little bit prone to cracking in half when one ices them and it is hard to make them look beautiful unless one has an old-fashioned trigger ice-cream scoop and the desire to pipe on the filling. 

The other thing about Whoopie Pies is that most recipes call for a filling that requires marshmallow fluff (and this despite the fact that this, apparently, technically makes them fluffer-nuffers not Whoopie Pies). Here in Australia there is a dearth of marshmallow fluff and even knowing that it is, essentially, Italian meringue doesn't help because that in itself is so laborious to produce. Those filling recipes that do not require fluff (and even some that do) require vegetable shortening. Though I can stomach a butter/shortening mix in the baked part of a WP, I cannot face the idea of eating it straight in icing. So I was determined to come up with a fluffy, sweet, marshmallowy filling that was quick easy and delicious. And this is it! Perfect for trad. Whoopie Pies - red velvets require cream cheese but that's another story...

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups butter

2 large egg whites

1 tbsp vanilla extract

2-3 tbsp pure cream

3 cups icing sugar

Method: 

1. Place the egg whites into a clean metal bowl and beat until stiff.
2. Put the butter and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat until light and fluffy.
3. Add icing sugar, half a cup at a time, beating well between additions to make sure that it doesn't become grainy.
4. When all the sugar has been added, add 2 tbsp or so of cream, enough to make sure the icing is really smooth.
5. Whip in the stiff egg whites at high speed for a minute or so.
6. Sandwich the icing between similarly sized W-pie shells, it is worth being generous.

Enjoy!